Call of the wAIld

May 12, 2025

Software trained to recognize gunshots is helping rangers in Argentina’s Iguazú National Park detect poaching of endangered jaguars, reports La Nación.
In the Paraná Delta, researchers used AI to process 13,000 hours of recordings that included brief sounds of gunfire, and used it to create a map of illegal poaching of Argentina 250 surviving adult jaguars.
A new device developed by engineer Sergio Moya and the Universidad Nacional de Misiones can detect gunshots, chainsaws, and human presence in the jungle, providing real-time alerts to park rangers working to protect jaguar habitats.
Researchers say AI is accelerating conservation work by transforming tasks that once took months into near-instant insights — allowing scientists to detect ecological changes, respond to threats, and make data-driven decisions with unprecedented speed.

AI is particularly well suited to biodiversity protection because of its ability to analyze massive volumes of complex, real-time data — from remote sensor feeds to satellite imagery — far beyond what human teams can process alone.
It is being used to support biodiversity in other parts of the region, including …

In Colombia, Project Guacamaya uses AI and satellite imagery to monitor illegal logging in the Chiribiquete National Park in the Amazon basin.
Developed as a partnership with Microsoft and local organizations including the CinfonIA Research Center at Universidad de los Andes, the project analyzes satellite images to detect new incursions in remote, often inaccessible forest areas.

Following a severe forest fire in early 2024, the Universidad Técnica de Uruguay (UTEC) developed a wildfire prediction platform using machine learning to process meteorological, satellite, and terrain data to improve forest fire forecasts.
The system pinpoints high-risk zones and enables quicker, more targeted emergency response to wildfires, which have become an increasing concern for the region following Chile’s devastating blazes last year that killed more than 130 people.

AI’s benefits for biodiversity have to be put in the context of its harmful impact on the environment including:
- Energy consumption and pressure on power grids
- Water usage required to cool data centers
- Increased need for rare earths minerals for AI chips
- Accelerated generation of e-waste as computing equipment becomes obsolete.
We won’t fully understand the trade-offs without a clear understanding of AI’s actual impact, argues Yuan Yao, a Yale professor of industrial ecology,
“We need transparent, robust methods to assess AI’s environmental impacts. Without accurate quantification, it is impossible to mitigate and address these challenges effectively,” she said in an interview.

OpenAI has offered to assist Brazil and other countries in building out AI infrastructure including computational resources and model access, reports Istoé Dinheiro.
Brazil’s lower house on May 20 will begin discussion of AI regulations approved by the Senate last year, according to Congresso em Foco.
A Peruvian engineer created an app called Brunito that uses AI to help police find people who have disappeared by sending alerts about their disappearance to cell phones near where the incident was reported, according to La República.

Pope Leo says AI represents challenge for humanity (CNN) - Newly elected Pope Leo XIV described AI as a defining challenge for human dignity, justice, and labor — echoing 19th century Leo XIII’s concern for the impact of the industrial revolution on workers as expressed in the encyclical Rerum Novarum.
Do you need more friends? Zuck’s got the AInswer (CNBC) - Lots of chatter about Mark Zuckerberg’s recent comments that people should use AI for friendships and therapy. Having done the latter (I’m quite impressed) but not the former (can’t say I’m interested), I’m going to sit this one out. What’s your take?
A.I.-Generated Likeness of Murder Victim Forgives His Killer in Court (NYT)
An avatar of Christopher Pelkey, who was killed in 2021 in a road rage incident, gave his victim’s impact statement as his killer’s sentencing hearing. His sister Stacey Wales said it brought humanity to the courtroom but noted that this came after a verdict had been handed down - cautioning AI should not be used as evidence.
OpenAI dials back conversion plan, nonprofit to retain control (Reuters) - OpenAI will remain a non-profit after all following a firestorm in which Elon Musk - who recently offered to buy the shop - sued the company and said it had strayed from the mission of bettering humanity. I think I’ll sit this one out as well.